The Huli take part in over thirty-four rituals which are supposed to serve many purposes. Rituals are performed for a variety of reasons ranging from Palena, which is a ritual of healing to Tiri Yagua, which is a fertility rite. Rituals are carried out in a number of ways each requiring their own particular accoutrements. The requirements of each ritual are different; some require dance and song, others call for an animal sacrifice. Most members in the Huli tribe will take part in a ritual at some point in their life, but there are those who perform more regularly: these people are called ritual specialists. The main idea behind the rituals is to connect the Huli with nature so they can use it's power in a beneficial manner. The Huli believe in a supernatural energy or force called gamu.
Gamu
Gamu is a supernatural force that is manipulated by the Huli people through rituals. Gamu, according to the Huli, is the energy that connects their people to the many deities they worship. Through the manipulation of gamu through various rite's, the Huli are able to connect to whichever particular deity they are in need of. The Huli believe that gamu can be used for their benefit as long as they perform their rituals correctly. How closely gamu practitioners and rite specialists ascribe to the particulars of any ritual, determines how effective it will be. If the practitioner makes a mistake in the order of event of a ritual, or recites a chant in the wrong way, this would effect the gamu, and the ritual could be unsuccessful.
Ritual Conduct
Gestures, verbal expression and sacrifice are all integral parts of the Huli rituals. The largest form of ritual conduct is verbal expression.
Verbal Expression: Verbal expression in rituals is any use of dance chants, confession, myths or spells.
Myths: Typically used in initiation and fertility rituals. Myths are stories of old that are meant to teach lessons.
Spells(dawe habe): Spells are used in almost every ritual and are generally sung. Spells usually contain a discernible structure and format. Spells contain well known symbols and have many references to the forest and nature. We can see this in the following example in which a man is poisoned:
Mugu (a species of tree)) hununu,
walu (tree) hununu,
mugu (tree) hununu,
ngue hawela (earthworm) hununu
Dance Chants: Dance chants are only used during the pelagua dance which is a ritual for earthly fertility. They are done to appease deities.
Confessions: Confessions are necessary in healing and fertility rituals. In healing the healer must know the reason why a deity or ghost would be angered by the sick person before he can make his diagnosis. In fertility rituals members of the community will confess to their misdeeds so that they may appease dama and hopefully experience a better harvest.
Ritual Gestures: While verbal expressions are all spoken, gestures are all physical. Gestures may include bathing in a substance (pigs blood, dew, etc), eating a certain food (pork, leaves), performing particular dance moves, anointing a stone, breaking sticks, digging gardens and burying stones.
Sacrifice (Oblations): These are gifts given to deities in combination with ritual gestures and verbal expression. These gifts could include leaves, seeds, cowrie shells, pigs blood, red paint, tree oil or pigs fat. The gifts are given through a variety of methods. Leaves are cast into certain bodies of water while the liquid gifts (red paint, pigs blood, tree oil, etc) are given by pouring them on sacred objects. Alternatively gifts can be given, simply by placing them in an area. Pigs are also considered a gift and a sign of faith.
Types of Huli Rituals
There are seven types of Huli gamu rituals that are performed on a regular basis. These are: sorcery(gamu bia), healing(agali gamu), divination(tadu bia), fertility(dindi gamu) and initiation(gurumaigiti and haroligamu), protection and production. These rituals involve combinations of ritual gestures, verbal expressions, and sacrifice although not all rituals contain all three.
Gamu bia (Sorcery): Through sorcery, the Huli people believe that they can either directly or indirectly inflict harm on their enemies by willfully controlling gamu. Sorcery can be used to physically hurt an individual or group or cause harm to their possessions. There are two classes of sorcery, one in which the victim is directly effected and one in which the effect is indirect. One example of direct sorcery is hambu gamu, in which a man breaks a stick or piece of wood and points it in the direction of his enemy or enemies. The Huli believe that doing this will actually break the bones of the practitioner's enemy. Other examples of direct sorcery are linki and ngubi gamu which produce similar results as hambu gamu. The second type of sorcery is indirect because the practitioner relies on the help of a ghost or deity. In one example a man will call upon a deity to either kill or harm an enemy. The practitioner will use chants and curses as well as the oblation of a pig to make this happen. If they do not sacrifice the pig the deity may not do as the practitioner wishes.
Agali gamu (Healing): Agali gamu, or healing rituals, are carried out either to cure a sick person or ensure the overall health of any given tribe. There are healing rituals for most common ailments. Some of these may include poison, dysentery, menstrual pollution, infected wounds, problems after childbirth etc. An example of a full healing ritual can be seen in the curing of poison, which is one of the more common problems. In the poison ritual, the person infected is bathed in the blood of a sacrificed pig. After the bath the victim eats some of the pork from the pig with a variety of leaves from the forest. While all of this occurs a specialist utters a specific chant or curse repeatedly.
Tadu bia (Divination): Divination is the process by which people seek knowledge regarding past events or information regarding the future. In the Huli culture divination is performed for a number of reasons. These may include finding out how a relative or tribe member was killed, locating lost pigs, and locating items of importance (resources, imbued objects etc.), among other things. Most divination rituals require the sacrifice of a pig. Divination is performed in a number of ways ranging from the interpretation of smoke signals to more prophetic methods. The most common form of divination is contacting the souls of the deceased and gaining insight from them. This process occurs when a relative of the deceased comes to a diviner (mostly female) with an object that belonged to the aforementioned. The diviner places the object in a string bag which she then holds in front of her. The relative then asks the diviner questions regarding the deceased to which she may receive a positive or negative response. These responses (left for negative and right for positive) are thought to come from the ghost of the deceased who is attracted to the power of the diviner and their former possession in the bag.
Dindi gamu (Fertility): There are six different fertility rituals that the Huli people perform. Ndintingi gamu is the term for fertility rituals which involve women (also used for fecundity). Mabu gamu refers to the fertility of gardens. In this ritual several practitioners dig out an area for a garden while specialists stand by and speak chants. The garden is then treated with dew which would be previously collected. Most children go through some fertility ritual prior to entering adolescence. This ritual is called waneingi gamu and is far less formal than the initiation rituals. There is a fertility ritual for men which is called haroligamu, a ritual for pigs (kimbu gamu) and finally tiri gamu which is a fertility ritual for water. These rituals involve bathing in dew, anointing, imbuing and burying of sacred stones, sacrificing pigs and chanting spells.
Gurumaigiti and Haroligamu (Initiation):
Gurumaigiti and Haroligamu are two types of fertility rites which are performed to improve fertility in men and to make them stronger. These rituals are thought to expedite the physical maturation process in young men through the power of gamu. Gurumaigiti is preformed in the tege initiation house. It is a long process which is culminated when the initiates walk across a bed of hot coals. The Huli say that through this process the boy is killed and the man emerges. Haroligamu takes place every two years and involves the initiates spending time in the sacred forest.
Protection and Production: These two types of rites are performed the least and there is minimal information available on them. Protection rituals usually come in the form of a spell or dance. For example the gumia dance is used to scare away negative deities and ghosts which could be harmful. One rite which does not involve a spell or dance is that of manago hale gamu. In this ritual a man must travel to a nearby region inhabited by Duna and purchase pointed sticks. The sticks are then coated in pig blood and placed at the four corners of wherever he may reside. Production gamu involves the production of materials. Most of these rites involve symbols in nature that correlate with a particular object. An interesting example of this is apparent in the production of drums. When a Huli man is building his drum he will burn the feathers of a blue bird in the fire that is used in the hollowing process. The Huli believe that in doing this the power of the blue bird's singing will be transferred to the drum, making it louder.
Huli Rituals
A Brief Overview
The Huli take part in over thirty-four rituals which are supposed to serve many purposes. Rituals are performed for a variety of reasons ranging from Palena, which is a ritual of healing to Tiri Yagua, which is a fertility rite. Rituals are carried out in a number of ways each requiring their own particular accoutrements. The requirements of each ritual are different; some require dance and song, others call for an animal sacrifice. Most members in the Huli tribe will take part in a ritual at some point in their life, but there are those who perform more regularly: these people are called ritual specialists. The main idea behind the rituals is to connect the Huli with nature so they can use it's power in a beneficial manner. The Huli believe in a supernatural energy or force called gamu.
Gamu
Gamu is a supernatural force that is manipulated by the Huli people through rituals. Gamu, according to the Huli, is the energy that connects their people to the many deities they worship. Through the manipulation of gamu through various rite's, the Huli are able to connect to whichever particular deity they are in need of. The Huli believe that gamu can be used for their benefit as long as they perform their rituals correctly. How closely gamu practitioners and rite specialists ascribe to the particulars of any ritual, determines how effective it will be. If the practitioner makes a mistake in the order of event of a ritual, or recites a chant in the wrong way, this would effect the gamu, and the ritual could be unsuccessful.
Ritual Conduct
Gestures, verbal expression and sacrifice are all integral parts of the Huli rituals. The largest form of ritual conduct is verbal expression.
Types of Huli Rituals
There are seven types of Huli gamu rituals that are performed on a regular basis. These are: sorcery(gamu bia), healing(agali gamu), divination(tadu bia), fertility(dindi gamu) and initiation(gurumaigiti and haroligamu), protection and production. These rituals involve combinations of ritual gestures, verbal expressions, and sacrifice although not all rituals contain all three.
- Gurumaigiti and Haroligamu (Initiation):
Gurumaigiti and Haroligamu are two types of fertility rites which are performed to improve fertility in men and to make them stronger. These rituals are thought to expedite the physical maturation process in young men through the power of gamu. Gurumaigiti is preformed in the tege initiation house. It is a long process which is culminated when the initiates walk across a bed of hot coals. The Huli say that through this process the boy is killed and the man emerges. Haroligamu takes place every two years and involves the initiates spending time in the sacred forest.A couple of relevant videos:
This is a video explaining importance making ones wig
This video shows the Huli participatin in ritualistic song and dance: